Art Museum Ready To Seek Project Bids

Bids will be sought in the next two weeks for renovation of a 5,000-square- fo ot area on the ground floor of the Allentown Art Museum, officials said yesterday.

The total project, to expand storage and work space for the museum's print and textile collections and objects on temporary loan, is estimated to cost $240,000, including new equipment.

The renovation will be financed in part by a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, $50,000 from the Kress Foundation and $10,000 from the Century Fund. The $130,000 balance remains to be raised by the museum.

Peter Blume, museum director, said target date for completion of the project is June 1988.

Architect Benjamin L. Walbert of Allentown is adding the final modifications to the floor plan for the area left vacant by the Baum Art School when it moved into its new building in the 500 block of Linden Street.

Patricia Delluva, museum registrar and project coordinator, said the textile collection includes more than 3,000 items, while works on paper - watercolors and drawings - involve 1,600 prints, 120 drawings and 200 photographs.

The space will include a workroom/study area of 950 square feet to accommodate both textiles and works on paper.

The print storage area will be increased by 225 square feet, more than doubling its size, while the textile storage room will be enlarged by 306 square feet, to a total area of 850 square feet.

The area will include a shared work space for both prints and textiles, plus space for the matting and framing of prints. There will be a large area for the receiving and shipping of art works, office space for curatorsand a registrar's hold area for processing of incoming and outgoing art objects.

An earlier grant of $5,000 provided the funds to hire consultants and conservators who helped the museum staff develop the plan.